I have been meaning to write this post for the longest time but I guess it was not meant to be until now. I just wanted to let you know that since I have been on this journey, I have noticed that there are two things that will seriously delay your spiritual growth and they are: Intellectual Masturbation and Conspiracy Theories.

What is the purpose of spiritual development?

First, the reason these two subjects have the ability to seriously hinder and/or stop you from achieving your spiritual goals is because most people do not understand the purpose of spiritual development. Most of us flee to spiritual development to escape western religions (Christianity, Jehovah Witness, Islam, etc.) but usually because of our disdain of those dogmatic teachings, we never try to understand why we were born into those religions in the first place. Many of us say, “Everything happens for a reason,” but fail to see the Divine reason why were placed into those religions, and therefore the purpose of spiritual development. So, let me tell you what I have learned thus far.

The purpose of spiritual development is to overcome our lower-ego-self who is personified as the devil or Set. That’s right! The devil is not some evil reddish imp running around tempting people to do evil. The devil is your lower self and the reason the devil or Set knows you so well is because he was born and raised in your subconscious mind. Everything that you do as a habit (good or bad) is governed by the subconscious part of your spirit. Most of our habits are like programs, which were developed out of our childhood experience to help us to physically survive, but at some point, in our life. A habit or program (good or bad) becomes outdated and is no longer useful, so it needs to be replaced. Think of this way, an old skool rapper trying to rap using lingo from 1986?

So, we must change.

All change is not bad or evil. Everything in this physical world is temporal and dynamic, so change is necessary for new growth to take place. When a habit or program has outlived its purpose, it must be changed because if not it hinders progress and evolution, and this is where we meet our devil Set.

Because Set does not like constructive and positive change. Set instead would rather you make excuses and blame others for all your failures, problems and setbacks in life. Your Set will convince you that you cannot achieve a goal because of your race, beliefs, ethnicity, etc. In other words, Set encourages you to take the Easy road out. For the record, I want you to understand that racism, classism, biases and all sorts of disparities are physically real and are real obstacles that have been placed before us. And, they are impossible for us to overcome if we think like a human being. However, if we think like a God and Goddess because we are Children of the Divine, anything is possible.

This is the purpose of spiritual development and this is the reason you are here. You came here to develop your God-given divine abilities and the only way you can develop them is by being put into the fire. Set is here to test you and to be the main adversary to tell you what you cannot do, so that you do it.

Understanding that spiritual development is all about fighting against your Set (ego-self) to overcome your anxieties, fears, guilt, worries, etc., which are all the negative emotions that will prevent you from being successful and achieving anything in life, means that you need to understand certain subjects can be a benefit or a hindrance.

One of the subjects that can be a huge benefit is history. History understood from a Divine, Godly or Osarian (Higher Self) perspective is a great tool that will help you to see that there have been others in similar situations as yours, that have achieved impossible feats. This means that you can achieve the impossible as well.

For instance, learning that Vivien Thomas was a bright surgical technician, should be proof that anyone can practice medicine. Reading about Lonnie Johnson was the inventor of the Super Soaker should be inspiration that anyone can be an inventor. The stories of Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan were brilliant mathematician, and Mary Jackson was a brilliant engineer, who were highlighted in the film Hidden Colors, should be proof that anyone can do mathematics despite living in a racist society.

But, if you approach history from a humanly and Setian perspective, you will focus on what’s wrong, which will quickly lead escalate to intellectual masturbation and/or conspiracy theory.

From the film I’m Going to Get You Sucka!

Intellectual masturbation (IM) is when an individual has read and studied every book in the world. They are not historians because they do not have the intellectual and or self-discipline to devote themselves to the subject with true rigor. They simply use history to as an excuse to prove to themselves and others what they can and cannot do. You can always tell when an individual is an intellectual masturbator because they are great debaters but, they never have any substantial proof of what they are talking about. To intellectual masturbators, Charles Drew, Vivien Thomas, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and others are seen as, flukes in history to justify their subconscious fears. Another thing about IM is that they heavy into metaphysics but again, they have no proof that any of the stuff they talk about works. They will tell you “So-and-so is a God/Goddess” but as soon they are put into a situation where they literally have to show-and-prove that they are God or Goddess. They “be like I was just kidding” or they have a plethora excuses of how ‘da system (matrix), da man, their momma or daddy, etc.’ stopped them from succeeding. Again, spiritual development is about overcoming that social conditioning that has us being anxious and living in fear.

Most people who fall into the trap of becoming IM because they overheard an intelligent conversation regarding history and basically try to mimic others in order to sound cool. Basically, they are historical bandwagon riders. This is the reason they don’t really know history but they are masters of the rhetoric. Most of the hotep people are IM because Kemetic or Kamitic is cool to them but not cool enough for them stop being misogynistic. Remember, spiritual development is about changing your old ways and anyone who makes 1000+1 excuses on their negative behavior is not really serious about spiritual development. For the most part, most IMs are fad chasers. These people were nowhere to be found 10 or 20 years ago. They are the ones responsible for making Consciousness a religion. To play it safe, it is best to avoid these people because will lead you back into another dogmatic religion. If it is not one of the recognizable organized religions, then the new religion will be vegetarianism, veganism, or conservatism or some other ism. These people simply need to learn how to overcome their negative perspective and see life from both an objective and subjective perspective.

Conspiracy Theorists (CT) are the biggest group of individuals who will deter your spiritual growth. Like intellectual masturbators, CTs see what is wrong with society but take it to a paranoia level. To them, everyone who has succeed in life is part of some clandestine group. In fact, the entire society is ruled by some clandestine group fighting for total control against other clandestine groups. Not only that, it goes further. These clandestine groups are involved in a heavy conspiracy to prevent the world from knowing that aliens exist.

It sounds funny, but CTs are serious. I used to be one of them and gave up this obsession when I learned that an old neighbor of mine was a CT. This man was bitter, unhappy, and had two failed marriages, but his home was full of video tapes, conspiracy books, surveillance equipment and built to survive a zombie apocalypse.

Who cares if there are aliens from another planet or not. Are they going to help you? Who cares if the world is flat or round, how is that knowledge going to help you and improve your quality of life? I mean unless you are a government spy harboring the blueprints for a secret weapon, the government does not really, give a damn about you. We live in a capitalistic society that focuses more on money, so to the government we are all cattle and the government has been having tabs on us. To paraphrase Talib Kweli “You’re a fool if you don’t think the government has not already tapped your line. “

Yes, conspiracies exist and most of us play right into them without even knowing it. Speaking from experience, the reason most people get caught into CTs is because the hell, brimstone and the world coming to an end – the Book of Revelations, was heavily impressed upon their subconscious (when they were younger). They were literally beat over the head in church about doomsday and when they got older, they never overcame the fear to understand that it was B.S. So, they spend their life trying to avoid the end of the world.

HRU (Heru, Horus)

When you really, submerge yourself into spiritual culture, you will learn that the end of the world described in the bible is an allegory referring to the end of a specific state of consciousness. Aren’t you tired of things being the way they are in this screwed up society? Why would you want to keep it? Remember, Set does not want change. When this old boy network burns down, I will see you at the campfire with some marshmallows. I am looking forward to this way of thinking coming to an end and as a true Child of God or a Hru, you should be looking forward to things coming to an end as well so that like Hru, you can reclaim your heritage.

So, don’t be deluded by these two ploys created to keep you living in fear.

Understand, we all have trauma that we have had to endure but if you continue to view your negative experience from a superficial perspective. You will never learn how to overcome it. You did not come here to be a man or woman. You came here to prove to yourself that you are a God or Goddess. You came here to master the Universal Laws. Gods and Goddesses don’t give a damn who is the president because they live their lives based upon a higher principle. Let me say this again, because I do not want people thinking that people focused on true spirituality are heartless, inconsiderate and unconcerned about current events. We are concerned but we are here for a reason and we understand our purpose. We focus our attention on changing that which is in our immediate sphere of influence. So, if you think you can change the political state of affairs by all means do it but don’t criticize others because they think it is a waste of time. They see it as a waste of time because that is not their purpose.

The sooner you realize this, the sooner you can get into your development and start making some real changes in your life and the life of those whom you love.

You know, there are a lot of people leaving organized religion because they are tired of the religious dogma, religious fear and guilt about God, and religious social control.Since many of the Judeo-Christian beliefs were adopted or borrowed from the Kemetic spiritual system like Ten Commandments which were modeled after the so-called 42 Laws of Ma’at; the entire birth, life and death of Jesus was borrowed from the life of Hru (Heru or Horus in Greek), and so on.Many people are embracing Kamitic or Kemetic spirituality because it appears to be an unadulterated form of Christianity.

Although it is true Judaism, Christianity and Islam borrowed many of their concepts from the Kemetic spiritual system, it is important that one does not err in practicing Kemetic spirituality as if it is a western religion because Kemetic spirituality is based upon understanding the difference between Ma’at, Maa and maa.

First, Ma’at, Maa and maa all translate to mean balance, order, justice, righteousness, truth, etc. but they do not mean the same thing.

Capital case, Maa refers to Universal Truths. These are basically truths that affect us all regardless of color, race, ethnicity, beliefs, creeds, etc. For instance, gravity falls under Maa because it does not matter where you are on the planet, if you throw a rock up in the air, it is going to fall down regardless of who you are, your social status, whether you believe in it or not, etc. Maa is often referred to as Universal Laws, God’s Laws or Universal Principles.Note that the Supreme Being did not write these laws down and instruct that humanity follow them or else. It is just that over the ages, sages from all over the world, since the beginning of time studied the cosmos and conceived universal principles. In fact, all of the great spiritual teachers, ascended masters, etc. are actually students of the Maa, which is the reason most religions have the same core principles and talk about love, peace, prosperity, compassion, wealth, charity, etc.

Scale of Maa

Lower case, maa refers to personal truths, personal way or la manera (Spanish). This is basically truths that pertain to an individual based upon their beliefs, experience, maturity, cognizance, etc. From this perspective the 42 Laws of Ma’at (42 Negative Confessions, 42 Declarations, etc.) are actually the scribe Ani’s personal affirmations. It would not do me any good to affirm “I have not swindled offerings, I have not stolen from the Gods/Goddesses, I have not stolen anyone’s land,” etc. because I do not live in those times so they do not directly apply to my life. So, maa pertains to doing what is right, orderly and just in regards to perspective.

For instance, I love vegetables but the one vegetable I cannot stomach are brussel sprouts. I have tried to eat brussel sprouts steamed, boiled, grilled, baked, smothered in sauces, etc. and they still incite a gut jerk.Now, is that to say that Brussel sprouts are bad for everyone because of my reaction. No. It is just me and maybe others as well, so if I say “Brussel sprouts are nasty and not good.” I am speaking from a subjective perspective and is based upon my experience and opinion.

A lot of people confuse Maa with maa and vice versa, which is one of the main reasons there are so many religious fundamentalists in our world today. For instance, some people will say that drinking alcohol is evil because of drunk driving, alcoholism, etc. But if that were the case everyone that consumes alcohol would be a drunk driver and alcoholic, which we know is not true. It does not affect everyone the same. However, we know drunk driving and alcoholism are real also.

Maa-The Path of the Feather

This leads us to ask why does drunk driving, alcoholism and other evils regarding alcohol exist? It is because of imbalance. When alcohol, like most of the things in our world, are abused and not used or consumed in moderation, it creates an imbalance and this introduces us to Ma’at.Ma’at is the personification of both Maa and maa. She is the archetype of righteousness, the divine protector of the Law, the goddess of truth, and the guardian spirit of balance and order. Ma’at is both merciful and vengeful at the same time.

I was taught to never leave an open drink alone and if you do, do not drink it. To always look at your food and drink before and if you sense you should stop to do so because that next bite or next sip could be your last. Of course, these are old folk beliefs and practices but every time I have disobeyed them I have ran into problems.

If you think about that last bite of chocolate cake, the last shot of alcohol, that last bench press, etc. you know that you were toying with the scales of Ma’at and moving from moderation to excessive-ness.

For the record, Ma’at is merciful and forgiving, so when this is done a couple of times, she may smack you on the hand and remind you not to do it again.But, if you do this too often, well you know the consequences.

Understand, Ma’at does not punish you for making mistakes. Ma’at punishes you for not living in moderation by reminding us that we reap what we sow. Ma’at is cherished because she helps us to find the middle ground or moderation and this is what invokes her mercy. Ma’at is an essential ally in our spiritual development because she helps us to align our personal maa with the Universal Maa.

If you were raised in the West, you probably heard the biblical story about Moses and the Children of Israel. If you have not heard the story, basically according to biblical lore the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel and forced them to build their temples, statues and pyramids. When Moses saw how his people were being mistreated, he rebelled against the Egyptian authority and later told the Pharaoh that God said “Let my people go.” After the Egyptians suffered several plagues because the Pharaoh refused to obey God/Moses demands. Pharaoh finally conceded and let the children of Israel leave but for some reason had a change of heart. So, while the children of Israel were fleeing and being pursued by the Egyptians, they cried out to God to save them. And, God caused the Red Sea to part so that the children of Israel could pass but when the encroaching Egyptian army neared. God allowed the Red Sea to swallow them, thus killing the Egyptian army.

Now, for the record, please note that I stated Egyptian and not Kemetic because numerous sources have proven that this story was a complete fabrication. The Kemetic society was the most advanced civilization in the ancient world and the most detailed oriented as well, recording every historical event that affected their society. But, there are no records of the Kemetic people enslaving another group of people to build their society, freeing thousands of people or their military being swallowed by the Red Sea.

Also, unbeknownst to most, according to an article posted on JNS.org, Mustafa Waziri, director-general of Luxor’s Antiquities, said in an interview with Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabih, “King Pharaoh who ruled Egypt during the epoch of our prophet Moses was not one of the kings who reigned in ancient Egypt, as we tend to believe. He belonged to the Beduin Jabarin dynasty, which is called ‘Hyksos,’” The Hyskos were a Semitic culture that ruled Kemet for about 100 or so years before they were ousted by the indigenous Kemetians. The interesting thing about the article is that the dictator’s name was Pharaoh, it was not the title given to the Egyptian rulers. It should also be noted that the Hyskos were followers of Set (Baal).

Statue of Hyskos or Shepherd Kings

That being said, returning back to this biblical story, the lesson many of us learned in the West is that if we give our cares and concerns to God as the children of Israel had done. That God will save us and part whatever obstacles in our path as he had done to the Red Sea for the fleeing children of Israel.

However, this is not what is taught in the Jewish mysticism schools. According to Jewish mystics, when the children of Israel cried out to God to save them. The Great God responded back, “Why are you calling me?”

The Great God posed the question to the children of Israel because he was reminding them that they were made in the image of God and therefore have the power to save themselves.

Think about that for a moment.

Generations upon generations of people have been taught to beg and plead for God to save themselves. When the true interpretation of the story taught by Jewish people is that God wants us to save ourselves by tapping into our divine being. Can you understand the psychological ramifications that this misinterpretation has caused? For some of you I know this is a shock because we have been told this story for most of our childhood but you can look it up yourself. The true interpretation of this story that God basically told the children of Israel to save themselves.

It should now become apparent that the reason our situation is getting worse is because God is not answering his calls. God has left the building because God did not create us so that we can call upon him for everything that goes wrong in our life. No one wants to be called upon just in the time of need, not even God. God did not create us so that God can be our slave. God or the Divine created us so that we could one day grow up from being children of God and become adults of God or of the Divine…gods and goddesses.

The Divine created with an infinite creative spirit. The Divine is waiting for us all to embrace our divinity and stop worrying about our status quo. Until that time, situations will to get worse because it is only when we are in dire needs and faced with closed doors that miracles occur proving that we are divine beings.

So the bad news is that is that if you do not begin to learn how to tap into your divinity, situations are going to become increasingly worse. However, the good news is that if you are feeling anxious, fearful, worried, etc., this is your Set masquerading as your ego and by ignoring these emotions, we take power from Set and empower our Higher Self or Osar.

It is important to understand that the true lesson of the biblical story is that the children of Israel saved themselves. The story was never meant to be taken literal but intended to indicate that when we invoke the power of the Divine within us, instead of giving into the fear of the ego. We can change any physical event, no matter the obstacle that lie ahead. Remember, the Divine created us to be the Hru of our own story, not follow the religion of others.

You know, the other day I was looking at my het (spiritual house/altar) and just thinking about how much it has grown from a simple cloth on a wooden box to a two-story altar with a plethora of empowering images. As I gazed upon my het, I am reminded of how much I have grown from mimicking the altars of others out-of-ignorance, to being able to construct a het anywhere by drawing a gateway with a piece of chalk on the ground as my ancestors have done before me.

Kongo Cross used for Ventilation during Underground Railroad

I am amazed at how much I have grown from seeing ordinary objects with concrete images to seeing how anywhere that lines meet form a maa aankh and can become a sacred space. I stare in awe as I gape upon the numerous images and glasses of libations, which reminds me of the sense of community that the Kemetic people used to defeat the shemsu Set (followers of Set). I see that for those of us on this shamanic path that our het is very important for five reasons and they are:

Reminds You That You Are a God/Goddess. Western religions separate human beings from God and always depict divinities such as angels, saints, martyrs, etc. as towering and tyrannical entities similar to the Greek gods. In Kemetic shamanism we are reminded that the so-called gods and goddesses were once people too. When their images are placed on the het at eye level or on the ground, we are reminded that our Spirits are not above us, and we are not above them. But that they need us just as much as we need them, just like Osar needed Hru and vice versa. A het is built on the floor to remind ourselves and our Spirits that they are warriors. A het is built at eye level to remind us and the Spirits that we are here to help one another. Therefore, the het is visual reminder of the partnership that must be created between us and our Spirits in order to achieve our destiny.

Npu (Anubis) – The Opener of the Way

Reminds You That You Are Responsible for Your Life. While it may be a great relief to put all of our cares and worries in the lap of some cosmic deity. It does not erase the why we are here, which is the reason if we continue to struggle with certain issues and problems throughout our life. It is because this problem is tied to your destiny, which means you incarnated to this planet to learn how to overcome that issue. A het reminds you of your purpose and helps you to gather the spiritual strength to achieve your divine purpose, by reminding you of the life of those who came before you.

Helps You to Elevate Your Thoughts. Believe it or not our Spirits know that life on earth is hard because our sahu (physical-body consciousness) has been created to help us to physically survive. Consequently, everything that we do in nature supports our lower self, which means we are naturally selfish and egotistical beings. It is because human beings have an Ab soul that we can choose to rise above our animalistic or lower nature to access our divine nature or BA (Higher Self). The problem is that we have to be constantly reminded of our divine nature because all it takes is for one thing such as someone cutting us off in traffic, flipping us the bird, etc. And, BAM! We forget that we are gods and goddesses having a human experience and revert to our lower self. The het helps us to remember that we are divine beings by allowing our Spirits to interact in our daily life. So, when someone cuts off in traffic, before reacting we notice that the car is red and black, hence Npu or when someone flips us the bird. We see signs of Setian influence all around that person and so on. In other words, the het helps us to see life from a cosmic perspective.

Provide Space to Practice Your Magick. I hear people saying all the time, “Wo/Man were made in the likeness of God” which means that we are supposed to be gods and goddesses too, but when it comes to people demonstrating their godliness. All they do is beg God to save them or save someone else. The Christian speaker Jesus says that all of these things that he does, we will be able to do the same and more through the Father (the Christian code for the BA or Higher Self). This means that when we connect to our BA, we all have the power to bless, heal, etc. as Jesus has done. The het provides the space for us to practice our magick and realize our divine potential. It allows you to contribute to creation instead of being a pawn of nature.

Frees You From Mental Slavery. The Western world was created to gratify our animalistic or lower self. It thrives on the survival of the fittest model, which requires that humanity like animals connive, enslave, steal and kill others to survive. Every aspect of Western society from their religion to politics, to their education to medicine, it is all driven by the same theme, which involves exploiting and subjugating others. This is why the Western society is flirting with disaster because it does not know how to teach its citizens how to get solutions from the BA (Higher Self). Even after the greatest Western minds like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and many others have attested to the power of this Higher Intelligence, Westerners refuse to explore and teach this truth, thus further encouraging its members of society to invest in their lower nature and ultimate demise.
The het gives us an escape by helping us to communicate with souls of the past, thereby exploring new ways of how to solve old problems.

There are other reasons why the het is a very powerful spiritual tool and when you understand its importance. It will become clear that the reason Westerners demonized our spiritual practices and destroyed our altars, shrines and collected our sacred objects, which they store in their museums, is because they could not reproduce the same results. So instead, Westerners chose to eradicate free thought but thankfully the souls of the righteous do not die and our Spirits are always near. If you are sitting on the fence as to building a het for your Spirits, I hope this article will help you to build your Spirits a home.

One of the biggest misunderstandings we hear when it comes to spirituality is that the physical world is not real. When people begin to ‘wake up’ or become conscious (enlightened), they are told that the physical world is not a real without further explanation. Some spiritual teachers actually tell their students that only the spiritual realm is real and that it exists above and beyond the physical world.

This is not true per se. This misconception and misunderstanding is due to Westerners culturally appropriating the Hindu concept “maya” without properly understanding the philosophy behind it. The term “maya” is often translated to mean “illusion,” but its literal meaning is closer to “deception.” In other words, maya is a deceptive force that deceives us into seeing that the physical world can give us everything we want, including peace, prosperity, love, wealth, power, happiness, etc.

It is not that the physical is not real. The physical realm is very much real. It is that the physical realm casts an illusion that it is a separate and the only reality. It deludes us into thinking that we are trapped in this realm. For instance, if you are born into poverty, you will also be impoverished, which is an illusion. If you are ill, you will always ill according to the physical realm, but again this is an illusion because it has been proven that most illness are psychosomatic. Most illnesses are influenced by a thoughts, actions, beliefs, etc. When we see accidents, tragedies, etc. the physical realm makes us believe that these events just happened or all of a sudden occurred. In other words, the physical realm creates the delusion that we live in a world of happenstance because we do not see the front end of Maa.

The truth is that the physical realm is the end product or the end result of the spiritual realm. Whenever we see planned and unplanned events occur, what we are witnessing is the physical effect of a spiritual cause. Said another way, the physical realm is a manifestation of the spiritual realm, which is the reason the spiritual realm is called on the maa aankh KAMTA (the southern region of Kemet or Upper Kemet) because it was the inundation of the Nile River in this region that flowed upward and made the northern region TASETT (the Red Lands or Lower Kemet).

So in Kamta the physical realm is called TASETT (the Red Lands or desert) and is identified with the Kemetic/Kamitic adversary Set, the author of confusion, chaos, war, etc. because it is an energy that creates the delusions of happiness, power, prosperity, peace, etc. from physical things. Set, the foe spirit that governs this physical realm or TASETT, is the spirit of deception that causes us to be selfish, egotistical, arrogant, narcissistic, self-centered, etc. For this reasons, we say that Set blinds us from seeing the whole as Netcher (Neter) intended.

Understand. If you think that money, sex, drugs, or any other physical thing is going to give you happiness, prosperity, peace, etc. You have been blinded by Set, as the Kemetic hero Hru was when the enemy gouged his eye. But, at the same time, if you think that you do not need the physical realm or that the spiritual realm is the only thing that is important, thus resulting in you thinking you do not need money, shelter, food, etc. Then, you are being too spiritual and not practical like Osar (Asar), which resulted in him underestimating Set and leading to an early death.

To bring Maa (Balance) into your life so that you can see with both eyes, here are several activities that you can employ:

The Eyes of Ra (Provide a Holistic Perspective)

Build an ancestral altar. In the Kemetic Legend of Osar, after Oset and Nebhet collected the dismembered body parts of Osar. Everywhere they recovered a missing part they erected a shrine in Osar’s honor, which is an allusion to ancestor veneration. The reason ancestor veneration is the most widely practice tradition all over the world is because it is proof that there is a spiritual reality beyond this physical reality. The followers of Set have done a great job convincing people there is a heaven and hell but have yet to prove the existence of both. Ancestor veneration is proof that the human soul does not die.

Begin to Practice Divination. True divination is not a means of foretelling the future and determining the winning numbers of Powerball. By the way, the purpose of divination is not to tell you what you should and should not do. The true purpose of divination is to show you the consequences of choices that you make. Divination provides you with the intuitive or the spiritual side of reality, which is the reason the Kemetic sages ingeniously state that after Set gouged out the young Hru’s eye. It was Djahuti who repaired his perfectly and made it whole.

Rhythmic and Meditative Sounds. When I first became attracted to this way of life, I remember I was watched the movie Quilombo which inspired me to listening to the sacred songs of Cadomble. As a result, the sacred music of Candomble became a gateway that helped me to go into a meditative state. Today, I can listen to blues, gospel, traditional African, etc. and it will transport me to the spiritual realm, thus allowing me to get a Maa perspective. In order to use music as a tool, it is best that music be slow, rhythmic and preferably in another language (or no words like drumming music), so that you are not focusing on the literal meaning of the music but the rhythm. If you possible, you can also try drumming but note that it may require you to drum for several hours.

Studying Metaphysics. Studying metaphysics can also lead to one expanding their awareness but it has to be combined with ritual in order to give a holistic view of reality. When metaphysics is not combined with ritual it leads to “intellectual masturbation” which results in the creation of numerous theories without any practical application. In other words, you are just talk and no action. By combining metaphysics with ritual you are able to see which theories are applicable.

Studying Dreams. The language of the BA (Superconscious) and sahu (subconscious) are symbols, so when one dreams or has visions. They need to ask what does the symbol mean in order to interpret the dream. By diligently studying the symbols in one’s dreams, one is able interpret the vast symbols that exist in nature. Certain patterns such as seeing three feral dogs or encountering individuals wearing red and black, will become easily identifiable as Npu, the jackal masked spirit. Through studying dreams and symbols it becomes clear that the physical realm is a manifestation of the spiritual realm.

There are other ways to establish a Maa perspective in your life but the methods used above are the ones I have found to be the most useful in my development. One thing that must be understood, is that every method does not work the same for everyone. Some people may be more clairvoyant, clairsentience, clairaudience and/or claircognizance. It is rare that one individual will have all of these traits but understand that these are all signs that one eye is being repaired.

The other day I went to the library and ran into this lady who was a friend of the family, whom I had not seen for a while. I said, “Hello and asked how she was doing?” And, she proceeded to tell me about all of the problems she was having in her life. She began by telling me that the other day she got out of the car and parked as usual but, somehow the car was not parked, and it dragged her several feet.

This of course prompted me to ask, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but I got this…” she continued and told me about how her leg got caught under the car, how she has a big gash on her leg, scrapes and other bruises, while pointing and showing a big bandaid she put on.

“Did you go to the hospital?” I asked.

“No. Yeah, the firemen who saw me and stopped the car told me I should go, but I am not going to go because…” and she continued.

“You should really go to the hospital and get checked out.” I said.

“No. I am alright. I don’t even know how I got home. I remember getting in the car,” she said.

“How long ago did this happen?” I asked.

“Oh, I think it was last week.” She answered.

“You really should go to the hospital and get checked out.” I state again.

“Nooo. I am okay. Anyway see you later,” as she limps away.

“I hope you get better but you should really consider going to the doctor.”

The next thing I know, she went and logged on to a computer where she sat for hours watching social media.

Now, I was not sure if this was the case or not but this lady seemed to have a lot of drama in her life. The fact that she was spending hours watching social media instead of going to the hospital made me wonder if her drama was her own self doing. I mean, as she told me about the things that occurred to her, it was almost as if she was looking for attention. I mean (besides financial reasons), why wouldn’t you go and see a medical professional or get treated to make sure that you do not a concussion, staph infection or something worse? Unless, you want or are looking for something else to occur? I mean, I am not trying to judge but it seems like you would want to do something to prevent further problems.

But, the fact that she got on the computer and proceeded to watch videos and get on social media instead of going to seeing if she was okay, convinced me that her priorities were out of rack.

How did this happen? I wondered.

Well, remember we all have a part of our being that governs our automatic responses called the sahu (subconscious). It is completely programmable and does not have the ability to reason, which means if you tell a person “You’re stupid” a number of times. Guess what? You will eventually begin to feel, think and believe “I am stupid.”

Now, most of us are consciously aware of this blatant type of subconscious programming or at least so they think. But, most people do not understand that our subconscious has to always be put in check. Our sahu (subconscious) will believe any authority figure, it not put into check. Don’t believe me. Let a doctor come and say, “You will be sick for three days.” I guarantee you that if you do not tell yourself “The doctor is a lie” and reaffirm that this is not the case. You will fall ill because your subconscious cannot discriminate between what is real and what is not real, what is fact versus what is fiction.

Most people do not see the subconscious programming that passes under our conscious radar because they do not understand that the sahu (subconscious) does not discriminate between fact and fiction. The sahu (subconscious) naturally obeys and believes all authority. TV and now the Internet are the new authorities. You were right if you said, “People only believe what is on TV” because “seeing is believing”

For instance, when people watch soap operas, romances, dramas, etc. Most of these stories all begin the same. There is damsel in distress who has some personal problem that she refuses to address, so instead she needs a man, a “friend,” some money, so that she can manipulate herself into a powerful position. The motto is “She has to use what she got to get what she wants.”

Of course, I can hear some people crying that this is not true because they do not believe or think that they act or behave like the dramas they watch but remember, this occurs subconsciously. Subconsciously, if you are in the habit of watching soap operas, romances, dramas, etc, your life is full of soap operas, romances, dramas, etc because you are programming your subconscious to be like the dark haired/brunette woman Joanna (Olivia, Maria, etc.) who manipulates her love interest John (James, Pedro, etc.) into lying to his blonde haired wife Becky (Mary, etc.), causing them to fight and have an argument, driving him into the loving arms of Joanna (Olivia, Maria, etc.). The next thing you know, the affair beings but in TVLand, they call it “Love.”

Remember, this subconscious programming occurs under your conscious radar, which means if you are in the habit of engaging in a certain action or behavior, you will think it is normal.

Oh, the subconscious programming is used on Brothas too.

If you are tired of police brutality, tired of the violence, poor economics but all of a sudden find yourself being more concerned about LeBron James, Steph Curry, D’Wade or any other sports teams. The subconscious programming was used to water down your aggression for change and channel it into purchasing sports paraphernalia or video game.

Now, don’t get me wrong. A little bit of escapism is okay and healthy. It is natural and is necessary for you to relax because it is the opposite of stress. But the first sign that there is a problem is when you see things falling apart.

It is like a drug addict. When you see your health failing, teeth and hair falling out of your head. That’s a sign that your escapism has just made you a slave to a destructive subconscious program.

When you have a lot of drama in your life and it seems like it is everyone else fault. You are under the influence of a destructive subconscious program.

When you give more of a damn about a sports team, athlete or entertainer, than you do about yourself, your community, etc. Umm, that is a destructive subconscious program.

When you eat something just to make yourself feel good. This is a destructive subconscious program.

Another sign that it is a destructive subconscious programming is that you do it because it makes you feel good but it does not improve your life one iota! In fact, there is no logical or rational explanation to explain its importance.

This is why if you ever talk to someone who is addicted to a behavior like cigarette smoking or overeating. They will tell you, “I know it is bad and not good for me.” When asked why they continue to do it, “I can’t help it. It feels so good. I like it” and a whole plethora of other “feeling” excuses. Remember, the sahu (subconscious) does not have the ability to reason, which is why destructive habits do not make sense.

I really hope you are starting to see that some of our problems are due to what we are feeding or entertaining our subconscious with, which is a very easy thing to do. This is the reason our Kemetic ancestors understanding the power of the mind tried to warn us of these dangers by saying that Set was married to Nebhet (the netchar of beauty, love, entertainment, etc.). We find a similar mythology in the Yoruba tradition where Ogun is married to Oshun. It even exists in European lore where Mars is married to Aphrodite. Beauty, love, entertainment, etc. or escapism can easily be manipulated to serve a destructive purpose.

If you ever watched Gladiator starring Russel Crowe, you will recall that the emperor of Rome reinitiated the gladiator games for entertainment purposes only, in order to delude the mob (masses).

Does it make sense why you are being bombarded daily with advertisements, TV shows, films, movies, music, food, drugs, etc. to keep you from going within?

Now that you understand how the enemy influences you and remember that “seeing is believing.” The purpose of building and maintaining a spiritual altar is to get you to draw your attention within.

What’s within you?

God and your ancestors. That’s the short answer.

The long answer, the solution to every problem that exists in your life.

If you want drama and entertainment. Meditate. Get into developing yourself spiritually. I guarantee you, you will find all the drama and entertainment you need. Besides, there is a reward at the end and it is called an improved, happier and successful individual.

Let me tell you Family. When I was diagnosed with lupus. The game to stay optimistic and hopeful among people who were negative and talking that “God’s will (if I die)” crap was intense. Now, I can walk among the most illest individuals because my spirit is strong.

When I lost my job due to the ill-ness and had to find other means of bringing money in. I learned that it was Easy to complain and talk about what I don’t have and can’t do. However, it was Right or Righteous to go within and find what I was wasting money on and tap into ways of how I can improve my finances.

The point is that our salvation comes from within and because we live in this physical realm, we have to be remind our sahu (subconscious) on a daily basis of our divinity. This is the reason the Kemetic people decorated their entire land with hieroglyphics and wall carvings. Silly and immature Western archeologists will tell you that this was art, but it was visual affirmations.

Indigenous people all over the world decorated their homelands and adorned themselves with visual reminders because they understood how easy our sahu (subconscious) would get distracted and have us thinking we are just human beings. This is what Righteous People do, they don’t advertise and market products for people to consume death. Righteous People advertise and market to their spirit about the beauty of nature in order to remind themselves of their divine capabilities.

If you engage in activities and behaviors that stimulate the lower part of your being (sahu/subconscious), you will have lowly existence and attract low influences. If you engage in activities and behaviors that stimulate the higher part of your being (BA/Superconscious), you will have a high vibe and will attract high influences.

You know there is a lot of confusion about what ancient African spirituality is about. Some people think that it is all about receiving a cool name listing all of these ancient African spirits. Others think that it is all about living with no consequences for your actions and behaviors.

I understand and know this because I remember that when I first became interested in ancient African spirituality. I came across this book where this lady was given instructions to get a particular man by offerings the orisha Oshun a pumpkin with her loved interests name inside of it, along with other objects sacred to the Yoruba orisha of love. The lady was also instructed after her petition was answered to make a weekly offering to Oshun for her continual blessings. After this lady made the offerings, Oshun brought this lady and man together but a few years later. The couple began to have all sorts of problems, until one day her husband became so furious that he grabbed the weekly offerings the lady was making to Oshun and threw them on the floor. When the lady went to the individual who gave her the initial instructions for capturing her loved interest. She was simply told that the same way Oshun brought them together, she could dissolve their relationship as well.

I remember that after reading this story I thought that all ancient African spirituality was all about was you doing a spell and “Voila!” You magically get what you want, so long as you keep the spirits happy. What I learned, the hard way I might add, is that this is not African spirituality. This is what the Hollywood horror films and other misinformation about African traditions want you to believe ancient African spirituality is about.

It is true that if you make an offering to the spirits, that “Voila!” They will give you what want or at least put you in the right place to get what you want. However, after you get what you want, you still have to do the work to keep it. For instance, if you do a love spell for the spirits to get you a man or woman, but you do not know how to keep that man or woman because you have a “stank” attitude, bad manners, you talk “at” your loved one instead of “to” your loved one, etc. Guess what? That person you attracted is going to leave because this is “African influenced magic” not ancient African spirituality. African magic makes up a very small percentage of ancient African spirituality. I would say at least 2 – 5%, while the bulk of ancient African spirituality involves working on yourself.

You see, African spirituality is based upon what I call the Ba (Superconscious or Higher Self) and involves working on yourself because it understands. That most of our problem are self-created, self-induced and self-inflicted problems that stem from our sahu (subconscious). In other words, most of our problems are due to destructive, nasty and negative habits that we most likely learned during our childhood.

This is hard for a lot of people to accept because many do not understand how they got their destructive habits. Well, don’t beat yourself up about them because as I mentioned. You got them subconsciously (sahu), which means you did not deliberately learn these destructive and negative habits. As a child, you indiscriminately imitated them because your Ab (conscious mind/spirit heart) was not developed. When we are all children, we are all very impressionable and believe everything that we see and hear as the gospel truth. To get real with you, a lot of what we believe is the gospel truth, we learned from our parents – primarily our mothers.

Yes. Many of the things that our mothers taught us is the reason we are having problems because as children. Our mother cannot do wrong, after all she carried us in her womb for nine months, breastfed us and was the first human being to teach us anything. She repeated everything to us and took the time to teach us the first things that make us who we are. To many of us, subconsciously Mom is (the first) God and God cannot do any wrong, so it is hard for many of us to accept that our Mom may have taught us something incorrectly.

But, what we have to understand that if there is something that we are in the habit of doing and it is not working for us. It is not Maa (Truth), which means it is not based upon the Ba (Higher Self) but upon the sahu (lower self) and to be exact, our parents (or Mom’s) opinionated perspective.

So what does all of this mean?

Well, it means that your personality, which was influenced by your Mom (and/or parents) is not who you are, but how you are in the habit of acting and behaving as.

In African spirituality you can’t say, “This is how I am” , “Just accept me for who I am” or “I can’t do x, y and z” because this is not who you are. This is what you are in the habit of acting and behaving as. Who you are is based upon your Ba (Superconscious/Higher Self), which is a clean slate that means you can become anyone and anything.

In other words, you may come from a broken home, which means psychologically speaking. You most likely when you grow up will have relationship problems because this is what you are habitually familiar with due to your subconscious (sahu) programming. However, you have a Ba (Superconscious or Higher Self), which means that you can change this subconscious program and have a happy relationship. You simply have to ask your Spirits to help and work through your conditionings.

No, it is not going to be Easy (all the time) but it is the Right thing to do and it is worth it. History is full of examples of individuals who have overcome incredible odds that were stacked up against them to become healthy, wealthy, powerful and influential people. If they can do it, you can too!

Hru and Set – Fighting the Devil Within

Only angry, egotistical and lazy people say, “This is who I am” as an excuse for their destructive, nasty and negative behavior. Being yourself is great if it works for you but, if keep hitting a brick wall in regards to your health, finances, career, relationships, etc. Yourself, is most likely a subconscious (sahu) habit learned when you were younger. And, this is the reason in the Kemetic tradition, our subconscious (sahu) habitual self (lower self) or ego-self is symbolized as Set (Typhon in Greek, Set-an or Satan in Judeo-Christian belief ), the spirit of chaos, havoc, laziness, stubborness and destruction.

You will know it is Set influencing your behavior because Set fights against positive change and wants you to continue to blame others for your shortcomings. Set is the lord of excuses and wants you to keep getting the same results using the same old conditional thinking. He will use everything within his power, especially fear to discourage you away from positive change.

The beauty of ancient African spirituality is that it focuses on your Ba (Superconscious or Higher Self), which is symbolized as Osar (Osiris). Osar wants reminds us that at any time we can hit the reset and start over because our Ba gives us a clean slate like a blackboard that can be erased.

In other words, it does not matter where you come from or what your background is because your past does not define who you are. It only indicates what you have overcome. Therefore, the magic of ancient African spirituality is that it helps us to not focus on what we are, but what we can become.